Car cranks and wont start, I have a weak spark off the distributor. I took off the distributor cap and cleaned off all the points. Still wont start. For some reason the negitive terminal on the battery gets really really hot after I try to start the car.

 

Do the same to the battery cables as you did the distributor cap and rotor. You have some resistance there.

 

I replaced the bolts that attached the cables to the battery terminals and now it stops getting hot. The car still has a no start condition. It just keeps turning over and fires once every couple of seconds but wont start. I have good spark at the coil but a weak spark off the distributor. I cleaned the points so what in the distributor has gone bad?

 

could be pickup coil or ignition module, mine did something similair and it turned out the contacts where the pick up coil plugged into the module were corroded.

 

Is there any way I can test these 2 items to find out if one of them has indeed gone bad?

 

here's the factory service manual method for checking the pick-up coil, but they're pretty cheap (about $12) so if there's any doubt in your mind I'd just replace it anyway. As far as the ignition module there's no way to check with a volt ohm meter that I know of, it's solid state. Autozone might be able to test it, but I wouldn't buy one there

 

pickup coil tested good so Im guessing it has to be the ignition module. Does anyone know of a good aftermarket one or should I just stick with the factory GM part?